Lawmakers must stop dithering, get the job done

W.C. Fields was lying deathly ill in bed at a hotel. His close friend walked in and saw Fields carefully reading the Bible.

"W.C.," he said, "what are you doing? You know you've never read that book in your life!"

"Looking for loopholes, looking for loopholes," Fields retorted.

Unfortunately, and with much less humor, that is exactly what our state legislative leaders have been doing these past 11 weeks during their redistricting "listening tour" throughout the state. Ever since a remarkable 63 percent of Florida voters passed Fair Districts Amendments 5 and 6 last November, legislative leaders have been looking for loopholes to protect their seats, including using taxpayer dollars to fight the amendments in court and creating a calendar that will prevent fair and efficient elections in 2012.

Why is redistricting so important? For years, Florida has had some of the least competitive elections in the country, stemming from scores of "races" with no challengers. Why? Because for years, politicians picked their voters instead of voters picking their elected officials. The good news for voters is that the passage of Amendments 5 and 6 will end gerrymandering and restore a much higher degree of competition and accountability.

Unfortunately, our legislative leaders are incumbents and, predictably, are determined to protect their seats to the end, through delays and litigation.

Watch them as they pass the biggest scheme of all: a delayed timeline, which in the words of their own attorney is likely to result in chaos and confusion in the 2012 election.

How are they doing this? Unlike other state governments that are already drawing maps and soliciting real input, our Legislature has used these 26 public meetings (with no new, legislatively drawn maps presented) as a stalling tactic that will result in a schedule likely to prevent candidates from even knowing what districts they might run in until after the deadline for filing has passed.

Who does that help? Incumbents, naturally. Uncertainty as to what a district will look like helps incumbents because they are already known to the voters and can raise money, making challengers reluctant to throw their hats in the ring. The current timeline is designed as an incumbent protection plan.

The legislators' published plan is to wait to finalize district maps until the end of the legislative session in March 2012. By law, the courts and the U.S. Department of Justice must have more than 90 days after passage to review the maps.

Under the present timeline, it is highly unlikely that districts will be finally approved before the June 8, 2012, deadline for candidates to file papers to run. Due to the likelihood of litigation, districts may not be finalized until August 2012, which would mean Florida's maps would be approved later than almost every other state in the nation. And with a primary election scheduled for Aug. 14, 2012, this timeline seems impossible to meet, which could mean delays in sending ballots to military voters and problems for new candidates.

Very simply, the current timeline for redistricting set by the Legislature is unfair to Florida voters.

In other states that have public hearings, citizens are allowed the opportunity to comment on legislative-proposed maps. For example, after maps are finalized in Arizona, they are made available to the public for comment for 30 days before final passage. In Florida, Redistricting Committee Chairman Will Weatherford has said citizens may have only a two- or three-day comment period before any votes are taken on a proposal.

Fortunately, elections supervisors all over the state are paying attention. At every redistricting public hearing, the local supervisor of elections has expressed concern with the Legislature's proposed timeline and has recommended accelerating the timeline to help ensure more democratically run elections. For supervisors, redistricting comes with a host of responsibilities, including sending new district information and voter registration cards to everyone in their county well in advance of the primary election date.

The League of Women Voters of Florida also calls on the Legislature to expedite the redistricting timeline now. Along with its coalition partners, the league has proposed — to legislative leaders — a sensible timeline pursuant to the Florida Constitution in which maps are drafted by October and approved by the first week of the legislative session in mid-January. This way, citizens will have ample time to review the maps and provide substantive input, and candidates will have enough notice of district lines to start communicating with voters and launch credible campaigns.

In addition to the Legislature setting an unfair and potentially disastrous redistricting timeline, it is also spending taxpayer dollars to fight new redistricting standards in court. In a direct insult to the 63 percent of Florida voters who approved the Fair Districts Amendments 5 and 6 last November, the Florida House joined a lawsuit filed by U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown and Mario Diaz-Balart asking the court to strike Amendment 6 from the Florida Constitution. Secretary of State Kurt Browning, who headed up the "Nix 5 and 6" campaign during the 2010 election, is the defendant in the case, meaning that Florida taxpayers are paying to both sue and defend the same lawsuit.

This decision comes after the Florida Legislature used every trick in the book to unsuccessfully oppose the Fair Districts Amendments, spending more than $1 million of taxpayer money from 2008 to 2010. The Legislature has also set aside $30 million for court battles expected as part of the redistricting process.

The league asks that the Florida House immediately withdraw from the lawsuit and respect the will of the majority of Florida voters, who want the new redistricting standards to be applied. Legislators should be working to uphold the constitutional provisions — not spending public money to protect their own seats. If the Legislature would stop trying to get out of following the new redistricting standards and instead apply them as the voters intended, there would be no need for litigation and no need for the massive amounts of taxpayer money it is planning to spend.

On that note, how much time and public money has the Legislature already spent since June 20 on its statewide "listening tour"? After 26 hearings, 18 days and 85 hours of hearings, 1,364 miles traveled and mileage reimbursed, and hundreds of hotel rooms and meals, how much did Floridians pay for this "listening tour" that has resulted in no proposed maps, few questions answered and public requests ignored? Imagine how many maps could have been produced as options with all that time and money.

It is part of the Legislature's job, for which its members are paid with taxpayer money, to draw the new district maps. Legislators have had the census data for more than five months. It is time for the public to see what they are considering.

Stop looking for loopholes. Drop the lawsuit, stop spending taxpayer money and follow the law of the land.

Pamela Goodman is first vice president and redistricting chair of The League of Women Voters of Florida. She is past president of The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County and former president/CEO of The Limited Express retail clothing chain.